(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for controlling kick down of an accelerator pedal, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for controlling kick down of an accelerator pedal, by actively varying pedal effort of the accelerator pedal in accordance a driver's tendencies while operating an Accelerator Pedal System.
(b) Background Art
Generally, in an accelerator pedal which includes a pedal effort adjusting function for a vehicle, the pedal effort is adjusted by varying the length of a spring connected to a pedal arm. The length of the spring is varied normally in accordance with a motion of a motor.
However, as shown in FIG. 1, in these types of conventional accelerator pedals t, a controller is configured to control the motor only when specific external conditions, such as vehicle information, driving information, and driving road information, etc., are input to/identified by the controller so that the length of the spring is changed to vary the pedal effort actively. In this conventional configuration of the accelerator pedal, an average tendencies of a driver operating the accelerator pedal are not included as a condition for varying the pedal effort, and thus the driver operates the accelerator pedal often uncomfortably sense his habits or tendencies are not reflected.
Especially, with respect to a kick down performed frequently when operating the accelerator pedal, a driver may prefer to recognize the kick down, or on the contrary the driver may feel uncomfortable recognizing the kick down and instead prefers to ignore the kick down while operating the accelerator pedal in the driver's typical operation style.
Details described as the above background technology are merely representative for purpose of enhancing the understanding of background of the present invention, and should not be construed by those skilled in the art as limited to the known prior art.